Collecting Art on a Budget

Collecting art can be daunting and expensive but a non profit organization in Atlanta is working to make it simple and inexpensive.

Tucked away in a little house in Reynoldstown isWonderRoot, a maze of studios where struggling artists in all different media can use studio space for as little as $10 ten per month.

Wonderoot recently launched a CSA: aCommunity Supported Art program modeled after farm CSA's. Executive Director Chris Appleton says instead of receiving a periodic shipment of groceries, they get works from up and coming artists. "We opened up 50 shares to potential customers and for $300 they could buy a share. In exchange for their share they got 9 pieces of art over the course of several months," he explained.

Similar programs exist in Los Angeles and Chicago. Appleton wasn't sure how Atlanta would take to the idea, but he soon found himself with a waiting list. "We sold out in less than three weeks which is really exciting because we had no idea whether it was going to work or not," he said.

Appletson said everybody wins with an art CSA because budget conscious collectors are able to aquire new works, struggling artists make some money, and WonderRoot, a non profit, gets a small percentage.

What ifyou don't like the art you receive? "The beauty of it is if you spend $300 and you get nine pieces and maybe you don't like one of them you can give it away as a gift," said Appleton.

He said art CSA's help attract artists to the Atlanta area and artists who come to Atlanta to train at schools like Savannah College of Art and Design stay in the area when they graduate, rather than relocating to a city that is more supportive of local artists.